Fisheries Act Amendment Bill (No 3) Introduced

Legislation to reinforce the
Government's preference for the Quota Management System to
manage fisheries resources and introduce scampi into the
Quota Management System on 1 October 2004 has been
introduced into Parliament, Fisheries Minister David
Benson-Pope said today.

The Fisheries Amendment Bill (No
3) provides for changes to the 1983 and 1996 Fisheries Acts,
and will address five issues:1. · improving the
processes for identifying and introducing stocks into the
Quota Management System and revising the commercial fishing
permit regime;2. · management of highly migratory
species;3. technical amendments to better achieve the
intent of legislation;4. · provision for changes to
spat catching permits; and5. · introduction of
scampi into the Quota Management System by 1 October
2004.

Mr Benson-Pope said the revisions to the 1996
Fisheries Act would reinforce the role of the Quota
Management System as New Zealand's primary fisheries
management regime. It will also improve certainty for
stakeholders regarding the process for introducing species
into the Quota Management System.

"Current quota
allocation mechanisms have become outdated and will also be
amended. The catch history years allocation mechanism and
the individual catch entitlement allocation mechanism will
be removed from the 1996 Fisheries Act. Catch history will
only remain the means of quota allocation for: species and
stocks on a transitional schedule to be inserted in the Act;
tunas; and highly migratory species caught outside New
Zealand Fisheries waters."

The current commercial fishing
permit moratorium on non-Quota Management System species,
which has been in place since 1992, will be lifted and the
commercial fishing permit regime revised. In order to
address potential sustainability risks associated with the
revised permit regime, stocks and species on the
transitional schedule will remain subject to the commercial
fishing permit moratorium.

New Zealand's Quota Management
System will also be extended to provide for the management
of highly migratory species, such as tuna, beyond New
Zealand fisheries waters.

Part two of the Fisheries
Amendment Bill (No 3) provides for revisions to the 1983
Fisheries Act. The revisions will provide for changes to
spat catching permits to ensure smooth transition from the
current spat catching permit regime to the Quota Management
System when green-lipped mussel becomes subject to the Quota
Management System from 1 October 2004.

A key
recommendation of the Primary Production Committee report on
its inquiry into scampi management was that scampi should be
introduced into the Quota Management System on 1 October
2004 using catch history as the basis for quota allocation.
Part three of this Bill will be used for this process.

Mr
Benson-Pope said the Fisheries Act Amendment Bill (No 3) was
an important bill which builds on the successful Quota
Management System to ensure that New Zealand's fisheries
resources are used sustainably.

The Primary Production
Select Committee will be asked to report back on the
Bill.

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